Articles & Essays

When the Statistics About the Church Are Terrifying — and Why Hope Is Still Rational

What the Desert Fathers and Mothers Know About Your Smartphone

What Jazz Musicians Know About Leading That Every Pastor Should Practice

What Fiction Writers Understand About Character That Every Preacher Should Know

What Therapists Know About Change That Every Pastor Should Understand

What Contemplatives Know About Attention That Activist Leaders Need to Hear

What Hospice Chaplains Understand About Presence That Every Pastor Needs

What Anthropologists Understand About Community That the Church Has Forgotten

What Great Coaches Know About Developing Human Potential That Pastors Should Learn

What the Military Can Teach the Church About Leadership Under Pressure

Why the Church Needs Theologians — and Why Theologians Need the Church

The Church as Counter-Culture: What It Means to Be Genuinely Different

What If We Planted More Churches Than We Built More Buildings?

What the Church Will Look Like in 2040 — and How to Prepare Now

Raising Up the Next Generation of Pastoral Leaders From Your Own Congregation

Rediscovering Your Calling After a Decade in Ministry

The Conversation You Need to Have With Yourself About Money

Confronting Patterns of Exclusion in Your Own Congregation

When a Staff Member Is Going Through Personal Crisis

How to Respond When the Internet Comes for Your Church

Navigating the Power Dynamics of a Large Donor

What to Do When a Church Member Threatens to Leave

The Elder Conflict That Never Gets Resolved — and Why

When You Discover Your Predecessor Did Serious Damage

How to Talk to a Congregation Member Who Is Spreading Division

The Church at the Table: Meals, Hospitality, and the Recovery of Sacred Eating

When the Church Is the Only Institution Left in Town

Pastoral Care in the Digital Age: Presence, Limits, and the Wisdom of Being Unavailable

The Arts and the Church: Recovering Beauty as a Theological Category

Serving the Poor Without Paternalism: A Different Kind of Community Ministry

The Church and Mental Health: Building a Community Where People Can Struggle Honestly

The Neighborhood the Church Forgot — and How to Find It Again

How to Preach the Same Gospel to People Who Are Nothing Alike

Preaching Through Silence: What Contemplative Communicators Know

The Letter You Should Write Before Every Major Sermon

The Sermon Nobody Wants You to Preach (But Somebody in the Room Needs)

Preaching to the Grieving: What People in Pain Most Need to Hear

When the Sermon Is Right But the Timing Is Wrong

The Danger of the Illustration-Driven Sermon

Preaching as Incarnation: Why the Sermon Needs the Person, Not Just the Content

The Enneagram, the MBTI, and the Pastor: Using Personality Tools Without Being Captured by Them

Finishing Well: What It Takes to End a Pastoral Tenure With Integrity

Reading for the Long Haul: Why Pastors Who Read Widely Preach Differently

The Spiritual Practice of Lament — And Why the Church Has Nearly Lost It

What Pastors Fear Most (That They Never Say Out Loud)

Learning to Receive: Why Pastoral Givers Struggle to Be Helped

Sabbath as Resistance: Why Resting Is a Radical Act in a Workaholic Culture

The Dark Night of the Soul — When God Feels Absent and You Still Have to Preach

What Spiritual Direction Is — and Why Every Pastor Needs One

The Prayer Life Nobody Talks About

How to Lead When Trust in Institutions — Including the Church — Is at an All-Time Low

When the Church Becomes a Political Brand — and How to Step Back From the Edge

AI, Authenticity, and the Pastor: What Artificial Intelligence Means for Ministry

Engaging the 'Nones' — What Research Tells Us About Reaching the Religiously Unaffiliated

How to Pastor a Congregation That Is Politically Divided — And Keep the Gospel Central

Building a Mission-Sending Culture in a Church That's Never Sent Anyone

What the Church in the Global South Can Teach the Church in America About Suffering

How National Pastors Are Redefining What It Means to Be a Missionary

The Unreached People Groups Closest to You That You've Never Considered

When Short-Term Mission Trips Help and When They Hurt

How to Talk About Global Missions in a Way That Actually Moves Your Congregation

Church Closures Are Outpacing Church Plants 3 to 1 — What That Means for the Mission

What I Learned About Unity From Pastoring Across Cultural Lines

What Predominantly White Churches Get Wrong When They Talk About Diversity

Before You Launch That Ministry, Ask If Another Church in Town Is Already Doing It

How Three Small Churches Co-Planted One New Congregation

What a Healthy Pastor Referral Network Actually Looks Like

The Case for Doing City-Wide Church Together at Least Once a Year

Reformed and Charismatic Pastors at the Same Table — What Happened When We Tried

When a Church Split Happens — Surviving It, Learning From It, Moving Forward

How to Talk About Political Divisiveness From the Pulpit Without Destroying Your Church

What the Scandals in the Church Are Teaching Us About Accountability

Why Young Adults Are Coming Back to Church — and How Not to Lose Them Again

What Gen Z Actually Wants From a Church (And Why It's Not What You Think)

Building a Staff Culture Where People Don't Burn Out and Leave

When to Fire Someone — and How to Do It With Integrity

The Most Dangerous Person on a Church Staff (It Might Surprise You)

How to Give Feedback That Actually Changes Behavior

How to Lead a Church Through a Season of Decline Without Losing Hope

When Is It Time to Revitalize — and When Is It Time to Replant?

The Metrics That Actually Tell You if Your Church Is Healthy

What Small Churches Get Right That Large Churches Rarely Talk About

80% of Churches Are Plateaued or Declining — Are You One of Them?

Preaching to the Room That's Not There Yet — How to Reach the Unchurched Through Your Sunday Message

Five Sermon Habits That Are Slowly Shrinking Your Congregation's Faith

When Your Preaching Gets Stale — and What to Do About It

How to Preach the Same Gospel to People Who Are Nothing Alike

You Are Not Your Church's Attendance Numbers

Anxiety, Perfectionism, and the Pastor: Breaking the Cycle

Why I Stopped Competing With the Church Across Town

What Pastors Need to Know About Depression (And Why It's Not a Faith Problem)

It's Okay to See a Counselor — Why Pastors Resist and Why They Shouldn't

How to Be Present at Home When Your Mind Never Leaves the Church

The Pastor's Kids Are Watching — What Are They Seeing?

Protecting Your Marriage When Ministry Demands Everything

What Your Spouse Wishes You Knew About Life in the Parsonage

When the Man in the Pulpit Is Falling Apart

The Difference Between Being Tired and Being Done

How to Return to Ministry After Burning Out

What a Sabbatical Is — And Why Your Church Should Require One

The Slow Burn: How Ministry Exhaustion Sneaks Up on You Before You See It Coming

Mobilizing Your Church for World Missions Without a Big Budget

What Partnering With a National Pastor Really Looks Like

Why the Future of Missions Is Already There

How to Build Real Friendships With Other Pastors

The Cost of Ministry Silos

What I Learned From a Pastor Who Disagrees With Me Theologically

Building a Personal Board of Accountability

What Bivocational Pastors Get Right That Full-Time Pastors Often Miss

The Hidden Pain of the Successful Pastor

Your Church Needs You Healthy More Than It Needs You Busy

How I Learned to Stop Performing and Start Pastoring

Why Pastors Quit (And How to Stay)

The 5 Biggest Mistakes New Pastors Make

How to Lead Through a Church Crisis

The Art of Saying No Without Guilt

Building a Culture of Discipleship, Not Just Attendance

Chapter 2 Time, Energy, and the Bivocational Reality

Chapter 5 What the Church Owes Your Spouse

Chapter 5 PCN and the Power of Connection

Chapter 4 The Value of a Pastor's Peer Group

Chapter 3 Finding and Building Your Ministry Network

Chapter 2 What Genuine Fellowship Among Pastors Looks Like

Chapter 1 Why Pastors Need Other Pastors

Chapter 6 A Sustainable Rhythm

Chapter 5 Financial Wisdom for the Bivocational Family

Chapter 4 When Ministry Feels Like It's Winning

Chapter 3 Managing Two Worlds Without Losing Your Family

Chapter 6 Investing in the Fellowship You Need

Chapter 1 The Double Life Nobody Prepared You For

Chapter 6 Building Your Own Spiritual Life

Chapter 4 Surviving the Hard Seasons Together

Chapter 2 How Ministry Affects Children

Chapter 3 Finding Your Own Identity in Ministry

Chapter 2 The Unique Pressures on Ministry Spouses

Chapter 1 You Married a Person, Not a Position

Chapter 6 Raising Children Who Love God, Not Just Ministry

Chapter 5 When Your Kids Push Back Against Church

Chapter 4 Building a Healthy Home Inside Ministry

Chapter 3 Protecting Your Kids From Unhealthy Expectations

Chapter 6 When Leaving Is Faithfulness

Chapter 1 The PK Problem Nobody Wants to Talk About

Chapter 6 What Your Spouse Needs Most From You

Chapter 5 Communication and Connection in a Busy Season

Chapter 4 Building a Marriage That Thrives in Ministry

Chapter 3 Protecting Your Spouse From Ministry Pressures

Chapter 2 The Most Common Ways Ministry Strains Marriage

Chapter 1 Ministry Is Hard on Marriages

Chapter 6 Learning to Be Still

Chapter 1 What Hitting the Wall Feels Like

Chapter 4 How to Discern What God Is Doing

Chapter 3 Suffering That Refines vs. Suffering That Destroys

Chapter 2 Quitting vs. Quitting Well

Chapter 1 The Moment Every Pastor Knows

Chapter 6 What the Other Side Looks Like

Chapter 5 Walking Through the Valley

Chapter 4 Getting Help Without Shame

Chapter 3 The Dark Night of the Soul

Chapter 2 Understanding Depression in Ministry

Chapter 1 When the Pastor Can't Preach His Own Sermons

Chapter 6 How Not to Go Back

Chapter 5 Recovery and Rebuilding

Chapter 4 The Road Through Burnout

Chapter 3 Recognizing the Warning Signs

Chapter 2 The Causes of Pastoral Burnout

Chapter 5 When Staying Is Faithfulness

Chapter 6 A Practical Health Reset

Chapter 5 Retreat and Renewal

Chapter 4 Creating Quiet in a Loud Life

Chapter 3 The Practice of Solitude

Chapter 2 What Silence Reveals

Chapter 1 The Noise of Ministry

Chapter 6 You Need Someone Who Gets It

Chapter 5 Maintaining Friendships in Ministry

Chapter 4 How to Find Your People

Chapter 3 What Real Pastoral Friendship Looks Like

Chapter 2 Why Ministry Creates Isolation

Chapter 1 The Loneliness Nobody Talks About

Chapter 6 Rest as a Weapon

Chapter 5 Creating Your Weekly Rhythm

Chapter 4 Sabbath as Theological Statement

Chapter 3 What Sabbath Actually Looks Like

Chapter 2 Why Sabbath Is Hard for Pastors

Chapter 1 God Rested and So Should You

Chapter 3 Sleep, Rest, and Recovery

Chapter 1 The Hidden Life That Drives the Visible One

Chapter 4 Movement and Exercise for Busy Pastors

Chapter 5 Nutrition and Energy in Ministry

Chapter 2 What Neglect Costs You

Chapter 1 The Body Is Not Separate From Ministry

Chapter 6 Creating a Soul Care Plan

Chapter 5 Receiving What You Preach

Chapter 4 When God Feels Distant in Ministry

Chapter 3 Practical Disciplines for Spiritual Renewal

Chapter 2 The Danger of Ministry Without Soul Care

Chapter 1 You Can't Pour From an Empty Cup

Chapter 6 Building Rhythms That Sustain You

Chapter 5 Confession and Accountability

Chapter 4 The Examen and Self-Awareness

Chapter 3 Scripture for Your Own Soul

Chapter 2 The Practice of Prayer for Pastors

Chapter 3 The Outward Call: What Others Confirm

Chapter 1 What Calling Actually Means

Chapter 5 What to Do With Your Calling

Chapter 4 When Doubt Creeps In

Chapter 6 Calling and Obedience

Chapter 2 The Inward Call: What You Feel Inside

The Marriage That Survives the Kids' Departure: What Stays When the Roles Are Gone

For a certain kind of marriage, the children were the project. The marriage organized itself around them. And then the kids are launched. And the two people look at each other and realize they have been living with a stranger.

The Slow Drift That Ends More Marriages Than Dramatic Betrayal Does

The story we tell about failed marriages involves revelation. The more common story has no single moment. It has a slow, barely-perceptible drift that ends more marriages than dramatic betrayal.

When You Married Someone You No Longer Recognize

It is possible to love someone deeply and look at them one morning and realize you do not know who this person is anymore. Not because they have been deceptive, but because time has passed.

What the Bible Actually Says About Submission — and What It Doesn't

Few words in the marriage conversation have been more weaponized than submission. The actual text of Ephesians 5 is more disruptive than either camp typically admits.

What Your Parents' Marriage Has Done to Your Expectations of Your Own

You have a template. You may not have named it, you may actively resist it — but it is there. Every person who grew up watching two people be married absorbed a working model.

What Healthy Conflict in a Marriage Actually Looks Like

Most people cycle between escalation and suppression. Neither of these is conflict. Healthy conflict looks different from both, and it is worth describing carefully.

The Sexless Marriage and the Conversation Most Couples Have Never Had

Fewer than ten times a year is the clinical threshold for a sexless marriage. The silence from the pulpit on this subject is near-total, which means couples experiencing it have nowhere to bring it.

When the Romance Has Left and Only the Covenant Remains

There is a season in a marriage when you look at your spouse and the feeling you have is not warm. Not hostile — just neutral. The question is: Is a marriage without romance still worth keeping?

What It Means to Rebuild Trust After It Has Been Broken

Trust, once broken, does not rebuild on a timeline. Trust is not a decision. It is a conclusion the nervous system reaches based on accumulated evidence.

The Resentment in Your Marriage Is Telling You Something Worth Hearing

Resentment is not a character defect. It is an information system. It is telling you that something you needed was not given, something you gave was not acknowledged, something you agreed to has been violated.

When One Partner Has Grown and the Other Hasn't

A slow awareness that the conversations you are having with your spouse are not the conversations you are having anywhere else. This is one of the loneliest positions in a marriage.

When the Church Married Empire

Constantine did not merely tolerate Christianity. He favored it. He returned confiscated property to the churches. He exempted clergy from certain taxes and civic duties. He funded church construction. He convened the Council of Nicaea in 325 to resolve theological disputes---with imperial authority backing the proceedings. Within a generation, Christianity moved from the margins to the center of Roman life. By 380 AD, under Emperor Theodosius I, Nicene Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. For many believers, this felt like vindication. After centuries of suffering, God had finally delivered His people. The prayers of the martyrs had been answered. The church had endured the furnace, and now it was being crowned.

When Fear Rewrites Theology

Not because they were uniquely evil. Not because they lacked sincere faith. But because they were afraid. And fear, as we have seen throughout this book, makes the idol feel necessary. Fear makes the chariot look like the only option. Fear makes the strongman’s promises sound like the voice of God.

You Are Not the Exception: Understanding Biblical Interpretation

Every generation believes it is the exception to the rules of biblical interpretation. But the Bible assumes you will be wrong.

Not Persecuted—Seduced: The Crisis of American Christianity

The crisis facing American Christianity is not primarily numerical. American Christianity is not being persecuted. It is being seduced. And seduction is far more dangerous than persecution.

When God Bless America Replaces Thy Kingdom Come

How Patriotism Became Our Practical Savior. A direct examination of how patriotism has replaced the kingdom of God as the practical savior in American Christianity.

The Monster in the Mirror

Why Every Generation Gets the Bible Wrong, Why Yours Is No Different, and What to Do About It. An exploration of how each generation interprets Scripture through its own cultural lens.

The Theology of Time

Every productivity system assumes you do not have enough time to get everything done. The Bible assumes you do not have enough wisdom to know what your time is for.